Get to know N-EWN

A community of researchers, practitioners, and educators working together to advance the practice of natural infrastructure.

We work across four main branches

In order to help facilitate the widespread adoption of natural infrastructure practices across the United States, we’ve identified four main areas that need additional work:

Developing methods and standards

New tools, techniques and guidance are needed to effectively plan, design, construct and operate natural infrastructure at different scales

Assessing benefits and costs

Natural infrastructure provides communities with a broad array of economic, environmental and social benefits. Improved approaches are needed to evaluate, quantify and forecast these benefits to support planning and decision making

Monitoring performance and outcomes

Technically sound, efficient and applicable methods are needed to track natural infrastructure performance over time, develop the evidence base for future designs, ensure compliance with policy and inform project operations and adaptive management

Integrating people and policy

Providing infrastructure that supports human wellbeing and equitably meets the needs of diverse communities requires integration of human values, attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and policies with modern communication and collaboration practices


Combining a diversity of on-the-ground experience with interdisciplinary teams.

The N-EWN community is made up of over 30 partners from industry, academia and the non-profit sector.

What N-EWN’s been up to:

  • Nature at Work: Not-so-plain Floodplains

    Nature at Work: Not-so-plain Floodplains

    Rivers have influence far beyond their banks. Many rivers naturally have spaces around them known as floodplains. This month’s edition of Nature At Work is all about these fascinating freshwater features.  You might have noticed the water level in your local river getting higher after heavy rain, and lower after several days of no rain–the…

  • Highlights from the June Partners Meeting

    Highlights from the June Partners Meeting

    We held our monthly partners meeting on Wednesday, June 12, welcoming Tim Stephens from Dynamic Solutions LLC to talk about oyster metapopulation modeling for restoration efforts in Louisiana. In partnership with an interdisciplinary team from public, private and academic institutions, Dynamic Solutions is developing a mechanistic oyster metapopulation model that simulates larval and oyster reef dynamics. The…

  • US Coastal Research Program hosts Decadal Visioning Workshop

    US Coastal Research Program hosts Decadal Visioning Workshop

    Representatives from federal agencies, communities and academia gathered in St. Petersburg, Florida earlier this month to discuss the future of coastal processes research at the US Coastal Research Program (USCRP) 2024 Decadal Visioning Workshop. The three-day event consisted of presentations on the past, present and future of coastal research, as well as panel discussions and…

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